Birthday of a Bookworm
by Amande
Summary: It’s Hakkai’s birthday and the ikkou wonder what to get for him. [mild 383ness]


Title: Birthday of a Bookworm  
Genre: VERY mild shounen ai between Sanzo and Hakkai. Otherwise, general.  
Characters: The Sanzo-ikkou  
Comments: It's Hakkai's birthday and the ikkou wonder what to get for him.  
Status: Complete

The Sanzo-ikkou were in an inn, playing poker. Hakkai excused himself as he left the room they were in and went to the bathroom. The second he left, Gojyo spoke up.

"Oi, tomorrow's a special day."  
"Nani? How come?" said Goku.  
"It's Hakkai's birthday."  
"No way! Honto ni?"  
"Hai."  
"So what?" said Sanzo.  
"What do you mean 'so what'? It's his day and we gotta celebrate!" replied Gojyo.  
"Yeah!" agreed Goku.  
"And just _how_ do you plan to celebrate?" said Sanzo, annoyed already.  
"With booze and tarts, of course!"

Sanzo sighed and whacked Gojyo upside the head with his harisen. Of course, Gojyo cursed him out, but Sanzo paid no attention. He looked at Goku's thoughtful expression and rose a brow. Goku snapped his fingers as an idea popped up in his head.

"Let's have a birthday party!" :D  
"A party? As in cake and stuff?" said Gojyo.  
"Yeah! He'll love it!"  
"Who'll love what, Goku?" said Hakkai, as he came back at the wrong moment.  
"Er.. Uh.. Sanzo will.. love getting his cigarettes tomorrow. Yeah!" said Goku quickly.  
"Nice save," whispered Gojyo.

Sanzo rolled his eyes and stood up, ordering Gojyo and Goku to follow him. Hakkai gave him a confused look and said,

"Should I come as well or stay?"  
"Stay. You're the driver and need the most sleep. I'll be back shortly."  
"Alright then. Oyasumi Goku, Gojyo."  
"Oyasumi," replied the said two.

The 3 men walked out of the room and went to Goku and Gojyo's room. Sanzo sat on a nearby chair while the other two sat on their beds. He gave them a 'Well, go on!' look and actually listened to what Goku was saying.

"So, yeah. A party for Hakkai." :D  
"Which will have booze and tarts, of course."  
"I guess booze is okay but tarts? They're so tiny! We're gonna need a million of them to be somewhat full."  
"Ugh, you really are a baka saru."  
"Hey don't call me a-"  
"Urusai! Don't even start with that crap!" yelled Sanzo.

He sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose, trying to ease the already forming headache. He spoke up,

"Forget the party, we don't have time for one. Just get him something."  
"Like a present?" asked Goku.  
"Duh, baka saru."  
"I am not a-"  
"I said don't start!"  
"Sumimasen, I heard yelling. I hope no one's injured, ne?" replied Hakkai, having caught them off guard.. yet again. XD  
"No one's hurt... yet. Meeting's over," said Sanzo, as he walked out of the room with Hakkai.

They went back to their room. Sanzo sat on his bed and lit a cigarette; taking a few puffs, while Hakkai was getting onto his. The green-eyed youkai spoke up,

"I'd never imagine you'd have a serious conversation with those two. Is it something I should know about?"  
"No, don't worry about it."  
"Alright then, oyasumi nasai."  
"Hn."

A few minutes passed until Sanzo could hear Hakkai's soft breathing, indicating that he had fallen asleep. Sanzo looked at his moonlit face and thought about what to get for Hakkai. At first, he didn't want to get him a gift... seeing as it can be considered excess baggage. But Hakkai deserved to get _something_, as pay back for all his services. So, he thought and thought but nothing came up. Feeling too tired anyway, he crushed his cigarette into a nearby ashtray, and decided he'll think about it tomorrow. The ikkou (except Hakkai) dreamt of their ever smiling youkai.

Morning came and Hakkai was already up, preparing breakfast for his companions. Humming away, he didn't notice a certain monk walking out of the inn. Said monk was now outside and looking for open shops. But since it was still early, only a few were. One shop caught his eye and he entered.

As for the others, Gojyo and Goku were already awake, also planning to sneak out of the inn to get Hakkai's gifts. Too bad they weren't quiet enough:

- The floor boards creaked when they went down the stairs,  
- Gojyo's big boots make loud noises, even when he tip-toed,  
- And Goku's stomach gurgled just when they passed the kitchen.. where Hakkai was.

The green-eyed youkai heard all of the racket and chuckled softly to himself as he knew they were trying their hardest to be sneaky. For what reason, he did not know but breakfast was ready and he was ready to serve. He aided his 'not trying to be loud' friends to a table and served them their food. So much for their plan.

Sanzo's plan was working though. He stopped in a bookstore and skimmed through most of it. One title caught his attention: "Kind Hearts and Gentle Monsters". It described Hakkai pretty well... the title that is. So, he grabbed it, saw a bookmark, grabbed that too, and bought them. As he left the shop, one thought was on his mind,

'Ninmyu Kanryo." (Mission Accomplished)

Hakkai wondered where Sanzo went. He knew he woke up before all of them but the monk vanished without him knowing it. And this worried Hakkai.

'But then again, he can take care of himself,' he thought.

When that thought ended, the priest himself walked in and sat on his chair with the others. Hakkai (feeling relieved) asked Sanzo a question,

"You get your cigarettes?"  
"...No."  
"So you just went out for fresh air?"  
"...Yes."  
"Wakatta."

Gojyo and Goku sighed in relief, thanking Kami that Sanzo didn't spoil **the** surprise. They still didn't get their gifts for Hakkai but all they needed was a distraction.

"Oh! Since you weren't here, Sanzo... I forgot to serve you as well. I'll be back," said Hakkai, as he headed for the kitchen again.

When he disappeared behind the kitchen door, two pair of eyes looked straight at Sanzo. They held out their hands, as if telling him to hand over the Gold Card. Sanzo grunted and glared at them, but tossed the card to Gojyo anyway. Surprisingly, Goku and Gojyo left silently but quickly. That's when Hakkai returned, surprised to find the bickering duo gone. He shrugged and gave a pleasant smile, giving Sanzo his breakfast. They ate in silence for a while until Hakkai spoke up,

"Any idea of where they went?"  
"Iie."  
"Sou ka."

Silence again. Sanzo grunted again, reached into his robes, grabbed a brown paper bag and tossed it on the table. Catching Hakkai's attention, the monk stared him down and said,

"Open it. It's for you."  
"Something... for me?"  
"Don't make me repeat myself."  
"Ah... hai."

Reaching for the bag, Hakkai kept his eyes on Sanzo's, silently asking what it was. But Sanzo stared back, not wanting to tell him just that. Hakkai broke eye contact with the priest and opened the bag. He reached in and grabbed the book, looking at it in awe. He read the title and quietly chuckled to himself.

"I can see why you bought this for me."  
"Hn."  
"Arigato."  
"...There's still something else in there."  
"Nani?"  
"In the bag, baka."  
"Oh, okay then."

He reached inside the bag again and found the bookmark. It was soft like silk and a brilliant shade of purple, making it shimmer when sunlight hit it. Hakkai's smile came back in full force as he was trying to hide his laughter. This annoyed Sanzo, seeing as Hakkai found his gifts hilarious. He found nothing funny about them, so that must mean Hakkai was mocking him! Sanzo stood up with a frown on his lips, hands on the table, and a glare that could kill anybody. Of course, Hakkai isn't just _anybody_, so he held his ground... with a smile no less, not afraid of Sanzo one bit. This, of course, pissed him off even more and he screamed out,

"What the hell's so funny!? Huh!?"  
"I'll tell you if you sit and calm down, Sanzo."  
"Ch!"

Which he did anyway, only because he wanted to know Hakkai's reason for laughing at him. Hakkai sighed in relief, watching Sanzo's temper descending. He cleared his throat and said,

"Well, it's not that I find the gifts themselves hilarious but at the scene I was imagining... funny."  
"...Right."  
"Let me explain. See, I imagined you looking for a gift for me. Scowl on and all,"

Which Sanzo did at the moment. XD

"And then I see you going to a bookstore, looking for something that reminds you of me. You find it and it's this book. But since you're in such a hurry, you don't bother to read the summary on the back, checking to see if it's worth reading or not. All you care about is getting out of there, but wait! Another thing catches your attention, a bookmark. Again, not bothering to see if it's even a good bookmark, you grab it too and pay for both, glad that your search is over. What you didn't realize is that you subconsciously grabbed a purple bookmark because you wanted me to remember who gave me these two wonderful gifts."

Sanzo blinked and stared, with a dash of pink across his cheeks. Also with a look of disbelief. He just couldn't believe how Hakkai did it. He basically described exactly what happened, as if he was right there with Sanzo at the time.

'He must be either omnipotent or that good,' thought the priest.  
"Ah ha ha, I guess I imagined right."  
'Damn right you did!'  
"Despite me laughing, I really am grateful for the gifts. Arigato gozaimasu, Sanzo."  
"Hn. Yeah, whatever."

Hakkai gave another pleasant, but beautiful smile to Sanzo. It almost took the monk's breath away... almost. Sanzo ignored his rapidly beating heart and continued to eat breakfast, while Hakkai read the summary of his newly owned book. Just then, Goku and Gojyo walked in, each with a brown paper bag, identical to the bag Sanzo got. Said three looked at each other and said,

"You got the same thing too?"

Hakkai chuckled lightly to himself as he looked at the dumbfounded expressions they had on. He gently took the bags, thanked them, and reached into both bags to pull out their gifts for him. Though they all gave him books and bookmarks, each of them were different. Goku got him "Dragonwings" (he said it reminded him of Hakuryu) and a gold silk bookmark. Gojyo got him "Tongues of Jade" (he said that Hakkai likes to ramble, plus.. he wears green: jade's color) and a red silk bookmark. Hakkai thanked them again and gave them a beautiful, genuine smile of happiness. Goku and Gojyo smiled back, glad that they made him happy.

Breakfast was over and the ikkou packed their things. As Hakkai put the remaining baggage into Hakuryu's trunk, he noticed the other three were arguing in front of the inn about something. He walked up to them and said,

"Is something the matter, minna?"  
"Well, it's your day, man. Me and Goku think you shouldn't have to drive today. So, I told the corrupted monk to drive but he don't wanna," replied Gojyo.  
"Yeah! You shouldn't drive today. You can sit in the back with me, Hakkai," said Goku.  
"Wait, I don't wanna sit with the baka monk!"  
"URUSAI, COCKROACH! I'm not driving that thing! Let Hakkai do his job and drive. Because I highly doubt that the _baka saru _or _you_ can drive it."  
"Hey! I'm not a baka saru!" "I **can** drive it, ya freakin-"  
"Maa, maa, it's quite alright you two! I'll drive; I don't mind."

But they continued to argue until a gunshot was heard. Two of them froze in place, one had a sweat drop at the back of his head, and the last one had a shiny silver gun aimed at said two. Everyone went into their respective seats and continued driving to the west.

Owari

- All of those books **do** exist and are done by Laurence Yep. I only read Dragonwings, so I'm not sure how good the other two are. But he is a good author. So, why not mention his work? ;)

- Yes, Hakuryu's barley there and I'm sorry for that. I just didn't know of where to put him. But at least he made _some_ kind of appearance in the end! :P


End file.
